Wayne Community College will host a short weather spotter training session next month.

Meteorologists with the National Weather Service’s Raleigh Forecast Office will conduct the Skywarn® training. It will be held 1-2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 8 in Room 101 of the Walnut Building (farthest left of the three buildings facing Wayne Memorial Drive) on the college’s main campus in Goldsboro.

Topics covered will include basics of thunderstorm development, fundamentals of storm structure, identifying potential severe weather features, essential severe weather safety, and information to report and how to report it.

NWS encourages anyone who has an interest in public service or responsibility for protecting others, such as police and fire personnel, dispatchers, EMS workers, public utility workers, and individuals affiliated with hospitals, schools, churches, and nursing homes, as well as people who work primarily outdoors and concerned private citizens, to take the training and participate in the voluntary storm spotter program.

Spotters are encouraged to report severe weather and impacts, but they are not “storm chasers.” By reporting hail, wind damage, flooding, heavy snow, tornadoes, and waterspouts, spotters supplement the data the National Weather Service gets from its equipment and technology and help meteorologists make life-saving warning decisions.

The training is free and open to the public. No pre-registration is required but interested persons should arrive at the class location a few minutes early to sign in, if possible.

For more information, contact Tara Humphries at [email protected] or 919-739-7002.